baby it's cold outside
by silver moon droplet
Summary: riku.alice : sometimes he forget she was only seven and a half.


**I don't get why everyone whores her, she is SEVEN AND A HALF you know. I like to picture she's nine though. It makes me sleep at night – **

**Gift!fic! for s.p hope you enjoy, and sorry about all the namiku…hints…yeah, that's right HINTS. Big super obvious look here hints, it was the only way I could write it. **

**  
Second gift on the way :] **

**AND I DO NOT OWN. THANK YOU.**

**- - - - -»**

Branches curve downward  
Under heavy snow blankets –  
Winter Wonderland!

**« - - - - -**

It's no secret. Riku wants to go home. It's not that he doesn't like Wonderland; it's just that Wonderland's not Destiny Islands. It's not home, and it certainly isn't the place where he wants to spend his holiday. But he doesn't have much of a choice. He can't come and go as he pleases.

He's stuck here until someone else needs saving.

Right now, there's only a little girl with a knack for getting into things. Maybe if she wasn't so damn curious-! Blonde strands fly behind her as she runs curiously around. Alluring blue eyes gaze at this winter Wonderland. She's never seen snow here, and she smiles, pointing and laughing as the white flakes touch her bare arms. "Look, Mr. Riku, look!" Snow. Troublesome thing. Riku has only seen it once, in Christmas Town.

He walks over to her, watching as she gleefully catches some flakes. The snow begins to melt against her warm hands, and she frowns, wiping the water on her dress. Her white apron, blonde hair, and blue eyes remind him of a different girl. This girl is quiet, with a very sad smile. She sits in her white room, in her white dress, coloring all day. She doesn't care for the snow. She doesn't care for much of anything.

She claims she doesn't have a heart.

"C'mon, Alice. You'll catch your death."

She scowls at this, and it makes Riku smile. Naminé would never scowl with her beautiful, porcelain face. She would never laugh, no matter how hard Riku tried. And she would never go with him, no matter how much he begged her. "I'm not cold!" Alice claims, crossing her arms, but they've already betrayed her. Goosebumps run up and down her skin.

He shakes his head. She's stubborn, just like Naminé. Even if her actions are more childish; as opposed to Naminé, whom Riku…really doesn't know.

"Please, Alice." He has to stop thinking about her. He has a job to take care of here. Alice looks taken aback for a moment - Naminé used to give him the same look. Goddamnit. She walks over to him, her small feet crunching the snow beneath them. Her freezing flesh touches his - he shivers, but she doesn't move from her bold embrace.

"You don't want to be here." He can't argue with that. He wants to be anywhere else: on a warm island with his two best friends; with the girl he loves, but who doesn't feel the same way. Instead, he's here, in this small girl's awkward embrace. "Sorry."

He's just as sorry, but he doesn't voice it. "Why do you want to stay out here anyway?" He rubs her arms, trying to get her warm. Her pale skin isn't cooperating with him very well, but she looks up and smiles at him, as if he must know.

"I want to make sure Santa can find me." Riku blinks, and, of course, it hits him. Alice isn't just like a child. She is a child, who wants to make sure Santa knows she isn't lost. He can't help but think of Sora and his Santa theories - it's hard to believe that someone can be so naïve. Until he remembers that they're both children - that they don't know any better. He sighs, running a hand through hair, and then bends down to her height, gazing into her eyes. Her face flushes. Maybe he's too close to her.

"Santa will find you."

"But what if he doesn't know?!" she insists. It's true. He could very well skip over her. After all, she isn't supposed to be in Wonderland. But neither is he.

Her teeth chatter. He begins to unzip his coat, so that he can put it on her. "Trust me. He'll find you." He throws his coat on her, and she's lost underneath it. "Now c'mon. Santa doesn't bring popsicles anything for Christmas."

They begin to make their way towards the cottage, leaving snow tracks far behind. He holds her hand all the way; she hopes he'll never let go.


End file.
